Why is the idea of voluntary action so hard for some people to grasp?

John Legend, like Bill Clinton before him, claims he did not want a tax cut.

“People fought to give me ? a millionaire ? a tax cut this year,” he said. “I didn’t need it. And all the other millionaires didn’t need it either.”

Legend, according to the AP article, is worried that community arts programs will be cut in the federal budget and unavailable to the next generation. Legend has used his own time and money to directly support these organizations. Why didn’t he donate to the government instead? Probably because, like Warren Buffett, he thinks the private charity will do a better job. And he’s right.

But if the Grammy winning artist really thinks the government needs his money more than he does, nobody needs to take it from him; he can give it back.

Almost nobody ever does.